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Lou Beale
Lou Beale (Anna Wing) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, who made her first appearance on the first episode dated February 19 1985. The character is played by Karen Meagher in the EastEnders special CivvyStreet aired in 1988. Lou was the first EastEnders character to be created by series co-creator Tony Holland, taking the inspiration for some of the series' earliest characters from his own London family and background. Her character outline as written by series creators Julia Smith and Tony Holland appeared in an abridged form in their book, EastEnders: The Inside Story. She was set to appear in a stage play of Adrian Mole, preceding appearing in EastEnders. However, Julia Smith refused to offer her any latitude and warned her that she had to take a gamble, either she turned down the play, meaning that she would fail to get the part of Lou and that would have lost her two jobs, or she could give up the change of playing Lou and accept the play. Wing decided to turn down the play and was later cast as Lou Beale. Lou is the archetypal East End matriarch throughout EastEnders' first three years. An intimidating force within the local community, she is the dowager of Albert Square's central family, the Beales and Fowlers. Never afraid to speak her mind, and woe betide anyone who manages to get on her wrong side, Lou has the respect of her friends and family, even if they do find her a bit of a nuisance at times. Backstory Lou was born in the East End of London at the outbreak of World War I and lived in Walford her entire life. She came from a large working-class East End family, the youngest of seven children, and grew up with a strong sense of community spirit. She fell in love with a local boy, Albert Beale (Gary Olson) in the 1930s, and gave birth to their firstborn Maggie (Olivia Shanley), but had her adopted due to being born out of wedlock. They married in 1936 and moved into 45 Albert Square. Lou and Albert went on to have six more children named Harry (Aaron Mason), Ronnie (Chase Marks), Dora, Kenny (Michael Attwell), and twins Pete (Peter Dean) and Pauline (Wendy Richard). She became a widow when Albert died in 1965, and Lou remained in the same house with Pauline and her husband Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher). Lou regularly intervened in her family affairs, especially when she detested of Pete's relationship with Kathy Hills (Gillian Taylforth) because he had previously divorced his first wife, Pat (Pam St Clement), and she had banished her son Kenny to New Zealand in the 1960s for having an affair with Pat. Lou then watched her grandchildren Mark (David Scarboro/Todd Carty), Michelle (Susan Tully) and Ian (Adam Woodyatt) grow up, with Pauline, Pete, Arthur and Kathy looking after her in her old age. In one episode she claims she was one of seven children, one boy and six girls. However, on Christmas Day 1987, she states she is from a family of eight, five boys and three girls. Storylines 1985–1988 Lou's affinity and ties with the area mean that she tends to view Albert Square as her own and thinks that gives her an excuse to intrude into people's business as she sees fit. She is great friends with Dot Cotton (June Brown) and Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin), her lifelong neighbours. She also has a good relationship with the local general practitioner, Dr Legg (Leonard Fenton) and an old Jewish pawnbroker known only as 'Uncle' (Leonard Maguire). Lou has a tempestuous relationship with her children-in-law Kathy Beale (Gillian Taylforth) and Arthur Fowler (Bill Treacher), blaming Kathy for Pete's first divorce (something Lou regards as unnatural, despite her fervent dislike of Pat), and showing displeasure at Arthur's unemployment; nothing he does is ever good enough for her daughter Pauline. In February 1985, she is furious to discover that Pauline is pregnant for the third time, her family already financially crippled by Arthur's long stint of unemployment. Lou gives Pauline and Arthur the choice of an abortion, having the baby adopted or keeping the baby, but they will not be allowed to live in her house. The family try to bring her round, but she finally is won round when the family organise her a holiday in Clacton-on-Sea. Lou supports her grandson Ian Beale's (Adam Woodyatt) choice to work in catering, which Ian's father Pete does not approve of, wanting Ian to have a more masculine career. Lou is delighted at having another grandson named Martin's (Jon Peyton Price), although she would have preferred him to be named Albert after her late husband. Her 16-year-old granddaughter Michelle Fowler (Susan Tully) finds out she is pregnant and Lou, Pauline and Kathy discuss Michelle's options, settling on an abortion, but if Michelle wanted the baby, she could stay with Kathy's sister Stephanie, though Michelle is furious with them deciding for her. Lou collapses in late 1985, prompting Dr Legg to send Lou into hospital for some tests and she is diagnosed with angina. The family have to make changes within the household to accommodate Lou's health problems, such as moving her bedroom downstairs, however, Lou doesn't take well to the changes. Lou has a long-standing feud with Pat, having never forgiven her for having an affair with Kenny. Lou is plagued with mixed feelings when Kenny returns to London in 1988, after banishing him from their lives twenty years before. She has always had a difficult relationship with her son, feeling him to be "too big for the Square" and fears that Pat's revelation, that he is the true father of Pete's son Simon (Nick Berry), will tear her beloved family apart. Before his return to New Zealand, Lou manages to make amends with her estranged son, despite Pat's malicious stirring – who later admits to Simon that Brian Wicks (Leslie Schofield) is his real father after all. In her later years, Lou is plagued with ill-health. In July 1988, she returns from a holiday in her beloved Leigh-on-Sea feeling distinctly unwell. Fearing she is dying, she takes the opportunity to announce to her nearest and dearest exactly what she thinks of them, even managing to make a truce of sorts with nemesis Pat. After gathering her clan of Beales and Fowlers around her, she has a few choice words of wisdom and encouragement for each family member. The next morning, she is discovered dead in her bed by daughter Pauline, having died peacefully in her sleep the previous night. Her friends and family mourn her death affectionately, never quite managing to forget the irreplaceable "old bag". The youngest of seven siblings, Lou was from a large East End family herself. Only her sister Flo (Linda Robson) came to outlive her. In 1990, Harry Osborne (John Boswall) returns to Albert Square – he had been engaged to Lou's sister, Doris, but she married Morris Miller after Harry was presumed dead in the war. In 1993, Lou's relative Nellie Ellis (Elizabeth Kelly) comes to stay with Pauline and Arthur. In 1997, it is discovered that Lou had given birth to another daughter, also fathered by Albert, who Lou had given up for adoption because she was conceived out of wedlock. Pauline, Ian and Mark travel to Ireland later that year to reunite with their long-lost family member, Maggie. In 2001, Mark names his stepdaughter Louise Mitchell (Rachel Cox) after Lou. In 2015, Ian's grandson Louie Beale is also named after Lou. Category:Characters Category:Beale family Category:Past Category:Deceased